LEGALIZATION OF YOUR DOCUMENTS
Your school leaving certificate may be legalised by:
- a consul of the Republic of Poland residing in the territory of the country where (or in the education system of which) the document was issued;
- education authorities of the country where (or in the education system of which) the document was issued;
- diplomatic representation or consular office of the country where (or in the education system of which) the document was issued, accredited in any EU/EFTA/OECD member state.
What does legalization look like?
Normally, it is a stamp from the Embassy or Consulate. If your legalization was carried out by the Ministry of Education, then the stamp will indicate the name of the institution. Please note that we do not accept legalizations from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Apostille:
If a country in which given document was issued is a party to The Hague Convention of 5 October 1961, legalisation is replaced by an apostille. The apostille authenticates documents for use in foreign countries.
The list of countries which signed to The Hague Convention can be found at:
RECOGNITION OF YOUR DIPLOMA
Starting from 1 July 2025, holders of secondary school/high school leaving certificates issued by foreign education institutions are required to submit information from the Director of the Polish National Agency for Academic Exchange (NAWA) confirming the right to apply for admission to higher education in Poland on their basis.
For educational documents issued outside the EU, OECD, and EFTA, you must apply for a decision of the Director of NAWA on the recognition of your diploma online via the SYRENA system, unless your diploma was issued in a country with which Poland has concluded an agreement on mutual recognition of education (currently including, among others, China (in the case of Gaozhong certificates) and Ukraine). This requirement is also non-applicable to IB and EB diplomas.
You can learn more on how to obtain the recognition statement directly on the Polish National Agency for Academic Exchange’s website:
How to obtain a recognition statement
Decisions recognizing a foreign secondary school/high school leaving certificate issued by the Polish Education Superintendent (Kurator Oświaty) before June 30, 2025 will remain valid and may be submitted instead of the aforementioned NAWA Director’s statement.
- List of countries belonging to the European Union, OECD, or EFTA
Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Chile, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States.